I really can't believe that management knows so little about certain tasks we perform. Last week I was convinced once again that they have no clue about what we're doing. How is that even possible? It's as if they are not at all interested in what is happening around them.
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@3ong....'Horace' the Roman poet? Come on man, you threw that in for effect, but truly that one crashed and burned. Based on your comment, I'd guess your preference for a 'literary' figure is more in line with one of your heroes....Yosemite Sam comes to mind. Stay in your lane. LOL
@3ong+1fiCU8vq: You're a bitter and jealous little princess aren't you?
@2oen+1fiCU8vq is correct!
@2oen Please check your spelling and grammar before posting. It’s difficult to quote Horace on a public school education.
There are hundreds of 'management' titles within ATT and few of them have the same responsibilities. I once worked on a short term project with a Director of External Affairs (managerial leadership title) who in his previous work life, was an I&R technician. He knew quite a bit about what the job of a field technician entails. He was an accomplished professional who worked his way from a tech job, operations manager, contracts manager, sales manager, then into external affairs....earning a B.A. and MBA along the way. BTW -- he was not 'related' to anyone internally.....
For those of you who think 'management' should know your job.....ask yourself if you know the job of the Ops manager, Service Manager, etc. (or any other management title that supports your organization). I'm certain the answer is 'you don't have a clue'.
Maybe time should be spend trying to develop skills to enhance your opportunities rather than asking foolish questions (statements) like this post.
@1taj Again. People like you.
I don't give a damn what management tells me on the nod-nod, wink wink. If it goes against compliance it had better be in an email with an accompanying change ticket.
Yet it happens time and time again. You can google AT&T fines and find website that tracks the amount AT&T has paid. How many billions do you think is enough? I'm glad you have the integrity to prevent such fraud, but you might be in the minority. AT&T considers the fines related to fraud vs. the profit from said fraud and does a cost analysis. Guess which spreadsheet entry comes out on top?
Post ID: @1uvs+1fiCU8vq
If it wasn’t for your manager you would not get paid, access to all the application would be lost, your badge would stop working, no access to fleet and fuel, list goes on.
No. If access to those systems did not expire every year and went to a three year cycle, there would, Oh, Oh wait, there is project "raindrops" to eliminate redundant "approval" processes. Soon, if your role is "approving" anything, shake hands with the BOT that replaces you.
@1apo thanks for your honesty and admitting that the majority in the management ranks are buffoons collecting a check. If they stay out the work still gets done.
“Skilled Professionals”………Hahaha! Out of all the responses, this one made me cringe the most. Union employees are by nature “Professional Liars” only. My estimation based off years of experience (13 years in the CWA, 6 years as a field manager and now 3 years as a 2nd level) is that only a small percentage (10-15%) of union folks are what I would call “Skilled Professionals”. These individuals can work almost autonomously with a great deal of efficiency and are really a breed apart. The rest are a mix of moderately skilled to low-skilled “workers” that REQUIRE a great deal of oversight, direction, guidance and assistance because they simply cannot work autonomously and never will.
With that being said, I agree that supervising managers should have ( or be able to acquire) an adequate foundational knowledge of what their direct reports do all day. Case in point………Several years ago, I was assigned strike duty along with most of my management peers during a short strike. The first trouble I rolled on, had to refer it to cable maintenance per process. Waited about an hour for 2 cable maintenance managers to drive up in 2 bucket trucks. Neither manager was able to operate an RFL (resistive fault locator) or TDR (time domain reflectometer). Neither of them knew how to access electronics plant records either. I found it astonishing that neither of them had any knowledge about the most basic tools a cable maintenance technician would be accustomed to using every day. It’s probably like that all over the company in various positions and departments.
If it wasn’t for your manager you would not get paid, access to all the application would be lost, your badge would stop working, no access to fleet and fuel, list goes on.
@1taj Again. People like you.
I don't give a damn what management tells me on the nod-nod, wink wink. If it goes against compliance it had better be in an email with an accompanying change ticket.
@1iqf+1fiCU8vq
"We don't need clueless compliance babysitters getting in the way of us doing our jobs."
This statement alone tells me that someone like you absolutely needs it.
Publicly traded company. A tremendous amount of oversight and controls go into the compliance process. Guys like you would never do it properly without someone on you about it.
You must live under a rock. AT&T has continuously paid fines for dubious business practices for decades. Dubious business practices that have been instructed "wink wink" from the "executive management" team. It is all a cost of doing business at AT&T.
'Management knows so little about certain tasks we perform....'. You, not your manager, were hired to learn those processes and you are paid accordingly. Seriously, why do you think leadership should know your job, the processes, responsibilities and nuts and bolts of whatever job title you hold? If you understood the hierarchy of organizations you would know that is not how it works. And yet, time and time again here on this forum, there is indignation that your 'management' team should be held accountable for knowing everyone's job title within the organization. Those beliefs aren't remotely how any corporations operate... And that might be one of the core reasons why so many of you will never move further than you are in your current roles.
Because management should know something about what they are measuring. Most successful teams have leaders that know the job and has contacts to reach out to when there are roadblocks. AT&T has hired new "managers" under a lower wage and benefit scale and they know very little about the network. They have no contacts and for the most part their only contribution is making sure their manager look good.
This isn't a widget factory where every week we produce a new widget and everyone is on board and everyone is up to speed.
We support networks that are 30 years old and networks that are new. Guess what? Customers get pi---d when either one doesn't work.
They don’t know any thing and want to take your time away from performing work telling them what you are doing over the phone. The managers only go out of their office or house to check FVD and rubber gloves. Useless as usual,
"We don't need clueless compliance babysitters getting in the way of us doing our jobs."
This statement alone tells me that someone like you absolutely needs it.
Publicly traded company. A tremendous amount of oversight and controls go into the compliance process. Guys like you would never do it properly without someone on you about it.
@fsf+1fiCU8vq then what do I need a manager for? If these bufoons don't even know what their employees do they are not and cannot be effective managers.
We are skilled professionals. We don't need clueless compliance babysitters getting in the way of us doing our jobs. We would be far more productive without managers like this.
Management doesn't equate to technical competency. How many times have you heard when the new level 3/4/5 guy/gal comes in and profess they have a lot to learn? Management are paid to keep you in compliant, report time and status, and not fight with others. They are also there to cascade emails from executives and HR. Can they succeed in these tasks without knowing how you do your job? Absolutely, it isn't part of their job and if you expect more, then you should become the knowledgable manager instead.
In the 80's and 90's you could call your boss for work advice and tech help.
He spliced/installed/repaired for 15 years.
Then they started hiring people from Nabisco, Pepsi and others who couldn't tell you what the first pair colors were.
But they knew policy da---t. "It's right here in tech expectations."
That was the beginning of the end for craft at T.
I spent my last 25 years smiling, waving and appeasing these id--t's egos.
Made 150 grand extra easy.
This is why they fail.
The person that posted this obviously has no clue...
'Management knows so little about certain tasks we perform....'. You, not your manager, were hired to learn those processes and you are paid accordingly. Seriously, why do you think leadership should know your job, the processes, responsibilities and nuts and bolts of whatever job title you hold? If you understood the hierarchy of organizations you would know that is not how it works. And yet, time and time again here on this forum, there is indignation that your 'management' team should be held accountable for knowing everyone's job title within the organization. Those beliefs aren't remotely how any corporations operate... And that might be one of the core reasons why so many of you will never move further than you are in your current roles.
What do you mean that management has no clue? The Stink knows more about every subject than anyone.
The Stink is highly interested in what is happening around him which is him lining his pockets by buying high, then selling low, then getting multiple eight figure bonuses for brokering each end of the deal!